A Child of Two Worlds
by VanillaTwilight17
Summary: Peter was erased but everyone still remembers his and the timeline wasn't changed. Now, 2 and a half years later he's back but he finds things similar to how he left them minus one change. Minus one thing. A little girl.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Perhaps in the other universe I own something but here I own nothing so please credit the owners.

A/N: **PLEASE READ!** In this story it takes place very similar to what happened on the show only everyone still remembers Peter and the timeline wasn't changed by his disappearance. Everything will be explained later!

Have you ever been watching a movie and just as it's starting things aren't quite in focus yet but then all of a sudden they become clear? Well that was sort of how Peter Bishop was feeling at that moment only things weren't becoming clearer. In fact, they were becoming more and more out of focus. The last thing he remembered he had just gotten out of the machine and was telling everyone what he had done to form a bridge between the two worlds. Then, he was in Reiden lake being fished out by two fisherman. He supposed he couldn't really blame them for calling the cops. You find a naked guy in the lake who seemingly came out of nowhere it would freak any normal person out but all that did was make things worse. When the cop put his name into the computer a federal alert came up and then within fifteen minutes he was being loaded into another car and taken somewhere undisclosed as no one would talk to him. All they would do was give him weird looks.

He looked out the window as they drove. They were definitely headed into New York City that much was clear. All the landscapes they were passing were familiar enough. What wasn't familiar was some of the things he was seeing passing outside. Perhaps that was the wrong way to put it. They were familiar things, cars, electronical devices, and such they just looked….advanced. Like some sort of prototype in a factory not something that everyone should already have. He felt a sigh of relief when they had pulled into Massive Dynamics headquarters. Perhaps Olivia, Walter, and Broyles would all be there waiting for him. He had been asking to call them ever since the police officer got to him but no one would allow him. They were barely even acknowledging him. He was greeted by a team of standard issue massive dynamic scientists who pulled him out of the car, rushed him up to a lab, and because running numerous tests on him. Still no one was answering his questions but they sure were asking plenty.

"How are you feeling Mr. Bishop?" _Fine, can I please…  
><em>"What is the last thing you remember before the lake Mr. Bishop?" _Coming out of the machine. Where is Oliv…_

"Can you tell me what the date is Mr. Bishop?" _May 22__nd__, 2011_

The team exchanged many glances and whispers after that answer but then jumped right back into questioning him.

"How many fingers am I holding up Mr. Bishop? _Is this a joke?...Apparently not four but what is…_

And so the questions carried on like that. If Peter wasn't crazy he could have sworn they were trying to judge his mental competence. After they decided he was mentally sound they went back to questions about his physical well being and what he remembered. It wasn't until they asked him what his least favorite candy had been as a child that he finally cracked.

"Look! Someone PLEASE tell me WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE? One moment I'm in that damn machine, then I am pretty sure I saved the two worlds, then I'm in that GODDAMN LAKE! I want answers and no one is giving me any and I had enough I demand to speak to…" Peter was then interrupted.

"You best settle yourself Peter. You've been through a lot and need your rest." Came a voice Peter knew well.

"Have I Nina? I wouldn't know because no one here will tell me anything! Would you care to enlighten me?" Peter asked her harshly. Nina waved her hand and all the lab coat clad scientists disappeared.

"Sit down Peter." Nina said with a tone of authority to her voice Peter couldn't ignore. "The reason you aren't getting answers is because truth be told we don't have any. We don't want to scare you before we have good solid reasons and explanations as to what happened to you. I will explain the best I can but I must warn you...it might come as a bit shocking."

"Honestly Nina after all I've seen over the past few years I doubt there is much that could shock me." Peter said laughing a little to himself.

"Peter after you got out of the machine...something happened. You stated that you last thing you have any solid recollection of before the lake is coming over to talk to us about what you had down to help the two worlds. Well…we remember that too. Then the next thing we knew you just sort of…materialized or evaporated in front of our eyes and disappeared. Of course we immediately started calling out for you and waiting for you to come back. Then we started searching elsewhere. Both here and over there in the other universe but, nothing. You had literally just vanished without a trace. Efforts had to be placed elsewhere with no evidence and none appearing and the search began to go cold. We here at Massive Dynamic led our full support to Agent Dunham and Walter who never gave up. It's been the hardest on the two of them, your disappearance. The important thing is you are back now so we will just have to work on…."

"How long?" Peter asked. It was the first of many questions he had yet to ask.

"Peter it's been a long…day for you. Perhaps you should rest and then we can answer some of your questions that we can tomorrow."

"How, Long?" He asked again.

"Two and a half years." Nina said somberly. Peter couldn't believe this. This was some sort of hoax. It had to be. People don't just vanish in to thin air. Then, somehow he was able to think rationally for a moment and remember what he had noticed on his way over here. He had thought that things had seemed more advanced. Because they were! If almost three years had passed the world had surely moved on even though he wasn't here.

"I…" Peter began so say but just then the door flew open.

"PETER!" Walter came bounding in the room and threw his arms around his son and began to sob. "Peter oh Peter! You're back you're back! I thought I had lost you forever son. You were there and then you were gone. I tried son I tried everything to get you back! I didn't know what to do! I thought I was never going to see you again!" Walter continued to sob into Peter and all Peter could do was hold him until he calmed.

"I'll just give you boys a minute." Nina said excusing herself.

"Is it true Walter? Have I really been gone for over two years?" Peter asked his father.

"Yes, I'm afraid so son."

"I just vanished. Without a trace?"

"Yes. I have no idea what happened. Some sort of reciprocal effects of the machine it has to be but I was never able to pinpoint it or even get close to figuring it out. So neither was I able to find a way to bring you back. I'm so sorry son! I have failed you!"

"Walter, Walter, Walter, you didn't fail me! If there was no evidence or anything how could it be your fault! I know you have tried your best and that you never would have stopped trying! You would never fail me dad!" Peter said to his father. This seemed to work and Walter started crying again and hugging his son close to him.

"We are going to try and figure out what happened to you son! We don't even know where you were. We even put Olivia in the tank to try and get her to mentally connect with you but she couldn't. She couldn't find you anywhere."

"How is Olivia? How has she handled it? Where is she? Has someone called her?" Peter asked. He really needed both people he loved here with him right now to get through this.

"She was called. She is on her way. You two will have much to talk about." Walter said. Peter couldn't help but notice that Walter didn't meet his eyes on that one. Like there was something he was holding back from him.

Peter began to ask Walter some of his questions from earlier and found that like Nina had said…there really weren't many answer to be given to him. Walter had hypothesized many theories as to what happened but nothing as of yet had come full circle. Peter then heard some commotion coming from outside and looked out the window in the room to the lobby outside to see what was happening. He saw Nina out there and she was with…Olivia. Peter felt a smile spread across his face. He needed his Olivia now more than ever but that smile faded when he saw that she was upset. She seemed to be having an inner battle with herself over whether or not to come in the room. Eventually she gave in and opened the door and stood looking at him with disbelief.

"Peter," She finally said.

"Olivia," he returned.

"Oh Peter!" Olivia broke down and flung herself into his arms. He held her close to him for what seemed like hours. They didn't speak much. Every so often she would mumble things like, "I have missed you so much" or "I can't believe you're here" and he would hold her tighter. He didn't know how to answer her. To him, they had been together merely that morning and for her…it had been years. She looked the same more or less. It hadn't been that long but still there was something different about her. The way she was cradling him, it was a new quality in her.

"Olivia I…" He began not knowing what he was going to say then he hear another familiar voice. Astrid.

"Olivia, Olivia I think…" Then came another voice a new one that he had never heard. A small voice, a child's voice.

"Mommy? Mommy!" The voice said as a child came running into the room. A little girl.

"Mommy I coudent find you" Said the child. Olivia picked her up and nuzzled her into her chest.

"I'm right here baby girl. You were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you so I left you with Aunt Astrid." Olivia said kissing the girl on the forehead and hugging her close. Peter stared at the scene before him but he couldn't believe it. This little girl was calling Olivia mommy and Olivia was responding to her in such a manor. This child was Olivia's daughter. He stared in disbelief. Peter examined the child further. She looked to be about two, two in a half years old and she looked almost exactly like Olivia.

"Who is he Mommy." The child asked.

"This is….Mommy's friend." Olivia answered her child. This was the moment that the little girl looked over at him and their eyes met. Peter had heard a lot of information today but this was the first time he felt his heart skip a beat. He was staring back into a pair of eyes identical to his own. He mentally did the math that he had been gone for two and half years, this child looked to be about two and a half years old. He was intimately involved with Olivia, this child's mother two and a half years ago. He wasn't just staring into the eyes of a child. He was staring into the eyes of _his _child.

A/N: I hoped you like it. I'm on break now so I should have some time to put into this. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think of it!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this universe. Perhaps in others that's not true but here all things belong to their owners

_A/N: I got some awesome reviews last chapter! Thanks for those! They are really inspiring! And a lot of questions! This is Fringe so questions are inevitable but let's just see which ones will get answered in time! This is sort of a flashback chapter on what has been going on in Olivia's life for the past couple of years_

It was the phone call Olivia Dunham had been waiting for, for two and a half years. The phone call that would tell her they found him. That he was safe. That he was coming home to her. To them.

She remembers like it was yesterday that moment when he literally vanished out of her life. Right before her eyes. She couldn't understand what had happened and no one, not even Walter could give her any kind of answer. The first few weeks were the hardest. She kept looking over her shoulder, expecting him to be there when she turned around but he never was. There was no trace of him. No nothing. He was just gone. About five weeks after he disappeared was when the nausea started. Initially she dismissed it as stress and anxiety over what was happening. Then when it didn't go away she wrote it off as the flu. She went through about five different scenarios before what was really wrong even crossed her mind. She was passing her calendar one morning when she noticed it. It was the end of June and she hadn't gotten her period that month. She flipped back to May. Ignoring the 22nd, the day _it_ had happened and looked back two weeks before when she had had her last period. Immediately things started coming together in her mind. She didn't even stop to think before she grabbed her coat and drove to the local convenience store and bought two home pregnancy tests. Within the hour she was staring at two positive signs in front of her. She held her head in her hands. This was just not happening.

She knew exactly when it had happened. A few days before the incident as she was now referring to it, Peter had taken her out for a romantic dinner and they had found themselves in a very romantic way once they arrived back home. She sat there, making decisions she didn't want to have to make alone. _Did she want children?_ It had never been something she explicitly wanted but she didn't not want it either. She didn't really see that as a relevant question anymore because like it or not she was going to have one. Instantly with that thought she answered another. She was keeping the baby. The baby. She placed her hand on her stomach and cradled it protectively. An odd emotion struck her. She suddenly felt very protective of the small life growing within her. A small part of her brain knew that there was a possibility, and that possibility grew with every day that she was never going to see Peter again. But somehow, the universe had seen fit to leave her with a part of him. A life, that he had created with her, and she knew that she had to protect this last part of him with all of her being.

Within the week she had a doctor's appointment to confirm her suspicions. She sat alone in the office of her OB/GYN and looked around at all the couples and she felt her eyes filling up with tears. She wasn't normally an outwardly emotional person and she blamed it on the hormones but seeing these couples, these families celebrating their joy together, only made her miss Peter more. She tried to get her mind off of it by looking around the office at all the posters and bulletins about Lamaze, the stages of fetal development, what to expect when you're expecting things, and wondered what Peter would think of all this, them having a baby. He was great with kids as evident by the time he had spent with Ella but she had never heard him talk about wanting any of his own. She had always figured that was a conversation they had time for in the future. Before she could get upset again the nurse called her back and prepped her for the appointment. Her doctor joined them shortly after.

"Good morning Miss Dunham, I see you think you are pregnant." Her doctor said to her. "Let's see what we have going on here. I'm afraid this is going to be a bit cold." The doctor squeezed the ultrasound gel onto Olivia's still flat stomach and began to wave the wand around. "Ah yes, you are indeed pregnant. That right there," The doctor said pointing to a small peanut shaped image on the screen, "is your baby and this, is the heartbeat." The doctor flicked another switch and the sound of her baby's heartbeat filled her ears. Olivia felt herself breakdown. She was so overcome with emotion that she couldn't hold it in anymore. Staring at the grainy picture and hearing her child's heartbeat for the first time she felt herself fall in love with the life growing inside of her. She felt a wave of happiness that she had never felt before in her life and she also felt a wave of sadness. Peter should be here to experience this with her. Once again she was pulled out of her reverie.

"Good strong heartbeat. I'll just print some of these pictures for you, I'll be right back." When the doctor came back it became established that Olivia was about six weeks pregnant and her due date was at the end of February. Her next appointment was scheduled and she was sent on her way. The ultrasound pictures took up residence on her fridge, on the table next to her bed, and on her desk at work. As time passed they were joined with more grainy black and white pictures that displayed what looked more and more like a person with every addition. Obviously this was something that could not be kept hidden so she decided to tell everyone sooner rather than later. She was given full support from Broyles and everyone at work and told taking time off after the baby was born would not be an issue. Rachel and Ella were over the moon about it and their enthusiasm was topped only by that of Walter's. He liked Olivia had refused to give up on finding Peter but like her had accepted that there was a chance he would never return and knew that with this child he would at least have a small piece of his son. He would follow Olivia around and talk to her swelling belly in scientific lingo that Olivia couldn't begin to understand but she was glad that Walter had found something to pull him out of his depression.

Months passed, and Olivia grew closer and closer to becoming a single parent. One cold night in February she found herself lying in bed with her collection of ultrasound photos. She had refused to know the sex of her baby deciding to be surprised. She was very large at this point and was looking forward to her due date but she was nervous. The closer her due date got the more the realization that she was going to have to do this on her own. She feared that she would mess up somehow but she had been assured by Rachel that those thoughts were completely normal. She layed back on her pillows exhausted and fell asleep dreaming of Peter, and them raising their child together and then the dream turned into a nightmare with Peter and her child suddenly vanished in front of her and she felt herself jump awake and she could have sworn to herself that she saw an observer in her room but when she turned on the light for a better look there was nothing there. There was however, a sharp pain in her abdomen and she felt her water break.

Eighteen hours later Olivia was about to deliver her baby. She was exhausted from the hours of labor and wished that now more than ever Peter was here with her. She needed him to help her get through this.

"Ok Olivia, I want you to take a deep breath and on the next contraction give me a big push. Ok here we go. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, good job Olivia. Ok here comes another one let's do it again." And so this continued on for two hours and Olivia was exhausted.

"I don't know if I can do this anymore." Olivia said. Her face covered in sweat and her hair plastered to her forehead.

"Yes you can Olivia. One more big push and your baby is going to be here," the doctor said. "Here comes another contraction, and push Olivia push!" Olivia gave it all she had for one last push and within seconds everything became a blur as she felt something slip out of her and she heard the sound of her child's cry for the first time. The doctor laid the child on Olivia's chest and began wiping her off with a blanket.

"IT'S A GIRL!" The doctor exclaimed and Olivia wrapped her arms around her daughter and felt the tears begin to fall down her cheeks. She placed kisses on the baby's head as the nurses came over to take her to be looked over and measured. Olivia reluctantly let go of her daughter. Minutes later she was informed that she had given birth to a healthy eighteen inch, six pound, seven ounce baby girl. They placed the baby back in her mother's arms and instructed her how to breast feed her child. Soon thereafter she was left alone with her child for the first time since her birth.

"Hello there my beautiful baby girl. I can't believe you are here and I can't believe how much I love you and you haven't even been here an hour yet. I just wanted to let you know that I am going to do the best I can to be the best mom I can for you. I really wish your daddy was here to do this with me but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. So you and I, we gotta stick together little girl. And I just want you to know that your daddy loves you very much even if he isn't here with you and I'm going to make sure you always know that. You are going to know how loved you are each and every day." Olivia said reaching down to kiss her daughter's head. Just then the little girl opened her eyes and looked up at her mother and she wrapped her hand around Olivia's finger. It was so small that it barely encircled it halfway but she squeezed it with all her might. Olivia felt her heart melt again and felt as if her daughter was telling her, "I love you too mommy." In her own way.

Time passed and Olivia soon felt all the joys of motherhood along with all the burdens of single motherhood. Doing this alone was hard. Especially the late night feedings and sleepless nights but she wouldn't trade it for the world. Olivia knew she shouldn't start habits like this but she couldn't bear to be separated from her daughter so she slept in Olivia's bed with her and Olivia even hated taking her to the daycare in her office during the work day. She had decided to name her daughter Kathryn. Kathryn Elizabeth Bishop and she was wrapped around the little girl's finger. Every day she became more and more attached and fell more and more in love with her. The only person who possibly loved the child more than Olivia was Walter who spent as much time as he could with her. Both of them happy to have something to distract them from the constant pain of Peter's absence, and the knowledge that as time grew on with no trace of him, they were likely never to see him again. As Kathryn reached milestones day after day Olivia wished so dearly that Peter could witness them with her. To see this life they created together growing up and learning new things about the world every day. Olivia made sure to videotape as much as she could in the hopes that Peter should return one day and would be able to experience his child's first baby food, first words, first steps, and everything else people liked to watch their children do.

Olivia woke up one morning and opened her eyes and saw that her now two and a half year old daughter was still fast asleep curled up next to her in Olivia's bed. Olivia looked down at her daughter and couldn't believe how much she had grown. She was more or less the spitting image of her mother but had her father's eyes. Olivia was glad of this. She felt like she had a way of seeing Peter every day this way. She felt her daughter stirring next to her.

"Good morning my angel. How are you today?" Olivia asked bending down to kiss the top of her head."

"Hi Mommy." Kathryn said smiling back at her mother. She had a very advanced vocabulary for her age and Olivia hoped that meant that she had inherited the Bishop smarts.

"What do you want to do today my love?" Olivia asked smoothing the blonde locks out of her daughter's eyes.

"Go playgound peas Mommy." The little girl said and Olivia had to laugh.

"I think I can make that happen. Let's go get some breakfast then we can go!"

It was during breakfast that the phone rang. It was Nina Sharp.

"Olivia, it's Nina Sharp."

"Hello Nina, how are you today?" Olivia asked laughing as her daughter tried to feed herself. "Hang on one minute baby and mommy will help you."

"I'm fine Olivia, I hope you and Kathryn are well."

"We are thank you. Did you need something?"

"Not exactly…..we found him Olivia." She said.

"What?" Olivia asked confused.

"Peter. We found him. He's alive." The phone fell out of Olivia's had and Kathryn looked up in surprise.

"Uh oh Mommy." Olivia couldn't believe what she had just heard. Was this really happening? Not an hour later she was standing in a room, looking straight at him. Peter. The man she still loved with all her being after nearly three years of absence. She had been informed that he remembered nothing of what had happened to him and she didn't care because she had him back and all she wanted for the moment was to hug him. At least until her, their daughter made her way into the room. Then she found herself with a lot of explaining to do and very little time to do it.

"Who is this Mommy?" Kathryn asked holding on to her mother and looking at Peter.

"This is…Mommy's friend." She had been so inclined to tell Kathryn this was her daddy but on top of the need to ease them both into this and she feared what could happen should Peter disappear again and didn't want her daughter to go through what she did she didn't come out with the truth yet. One look at Peter's face though told her that he knew full well he was looking at his own child.

"Kathryn, Mommy needs to talk to her friend about grown up things for one minute so you go out there with Auntie Astrid and Grandpa and I'll be out in one minute ok?" Olivia asked her daughter.

"Ok Mommy." Olivia kissed her daughter's head and sent her back out the door.

"So…" Olivia said looking at Peter.

"She's mine." Peter said. It wasn't a question.

"Ours technically, but yes, she is yours." Olivia said.

"Ours." Peter said. He seemed to spin that around in his head for a minute before looking at her.

"We have a daughter." He said shaking his head in disbelief.

"We have a daughter." She said back to him and she hugged herself to him once more.

A/N: Long chapter I know! I hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this universe. Perhaps in others but here these all belong to their owners

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and I hope you like this chapter!

After five days of being poked and prodded by the scientists of Massive Dynamic they were finally convinced that Peter was physically in perfect health and had no choice but to give in to his wish to go home. When he got back to the house that he had shared with Walter before his disappearance he was relieved to see that nothing in his room had changed. He was glad to have someplace he could go that still felt like he hadn't been gone for over two years. Walter was very happy to have him home. He was downstairs making smoothies noisily and Peter took the few minutes to lay on his bed and try to make sense of some of the things that were happening in his head. He still had no answers as to what had happened to him but he had at least accepted that he had been MIA for the past couple years. He wanted nothing more than to curl up with Olivia right now and talk about what was happening and try to figure out a way to work through it. That was the one person however, that he couldn't talk to. After that first day at Massive Dynamic Olivia had only been back to see him once to bring him a bag of his stuff and she hadn't brought Kathryn with her. Someone he was very anxious to see again.

As if disappearing for over two years without a trace and having no idea he had done so wasn't enough to digest, Peter also had to come to terms with the idea that he had a daughter. _Woah…I have a daughter, I'm a father_, Peter thought to himself.

"I'm a father." Peter had to say the words out loud. They had been nagging him for almost a week now. He hadn't quite yet figured out how he felt about this. Just as he was about to try and compartmentalize the situation there was a knock at his door.

"Later Walter," He called from his position on the bed.

"Peter, it's me. Astrid."

"Oh come on in Astrid!" Peter said sitting up. Astrid walked through the door smiling.

"Hey, how are you doing?"

"I don't know. As well as can be expected I guess considering….everything." Peter said.

"Yea I imagine. It's a lot for all of us to swallow too, having you back. I mean we had all pretty much come to terms with the idea of never seeing you again. This is the most alive I've seen Walter since Kathryn was born. Oh…how are you handling that?"

"Oh you mean the fact that I have a daughter? Oh you know…to be perfectly honest with you Astrid I have no idea how to handle it!"

"I'm sure that was not how Olivia wanted you to find out."

"I don't know how she wanted me to find out because I haven't spent more than twenty minutes with her since I've been….back."

"Peter you have no idea how hard it's been for her. She found out she was pregnant about a month after you dissppeared and she has had to do it all on her own. She had to deal with you being gone and all that comes along with being a mother. She's great at it, she's an amazing mom. She loves that little girl more than anything in this world. She's a great kid Peter. You would be proud."

"I want to be proud! Ever since I found out about her I have wanted nothing more than to see her again! I think about it every minute of every day but Olivia doesn't seem to into that idea. Honestly does she think that I want nothing to do with my child? If she was that upset about me being gone she sure has a funny way of showing it now by not being here for me when I really need her! Does she have any idea what this has done to me?"

"Um do you have any idea what this has done to her? You didn't even know you were gone! I know it's a shock to come back to all of this, finding out you have a daughter and that you've been gone for two and a half years but you didn't even know you were gone! Olivia had to deal with you being gone the whole time. She was in so much pain Peter that she could hardly function sometimes. Kathryn saved her. When she was born was the first time any sort of life was back in her eyes. I think it was because she had a little piece of you with her. So you just reappearing has got to really shake her up. Also, she adores that little girl more than anything else in this world and she would do anything to ensure that she doesn't get hurt and in the back of Olivia's mind, as in all of ours that we don't know what happened to you to begin with so there is a fear that you are going to disappear again. I'm sure the reason Olivia hasn't been around much is that one, she probably can't stand putting herself through that again and believe me it's not that she doesn't want you in Kathryn's life. She has always said that she wished that Kathryn had her father in her life and she speaks of you often to her but I think that she just doesn't want to bring you into her life and then have you disappear again and have her feel the same pain she felt." Peter said taken aback by what his friend just said. He was so busy thinking about himself that he hadn't stopped to think about other's feelings and what him coming back must have done to them.

"I'm an idiot." Peter said.

"You're not an idiot. You are just confused and hurt and it's just going to take some time for things to get back to normal. Just give Olivia a little bit of time and give yourself some time. It will all work out."

"Thank you Astrid. I needed that."

"No problem. I better go help Walter. He's trying to put hot dogs in the smoothies."

"Good to know that some things haven't changed." Peter laughed to himself.

A/N: Please review and let me know what you think


	4. Chapter 4

Peter was still upset about Olivia seemingly shutting him out right now when he really needed her but Astrid had a point. In his mind, nothing had really happened. In his mind, years hadn't passed unlike for her. Of course she would need time to sort through this and there was a child involved now so it complicated things more but he still wished Olivia would communicate with him what was going on with her. Wasn't that what relationships were all about, communication? Then, something Astrid had said struck Peter. _We had all come to terms with the idea that we would probably never see you again_. Were they even still in a relationship? Had Olivia moved on and found somebody else? Was some other man raising his child? This last thought hurt him more than the others. He had been gone and to everyone still here it didn't look like he would ever return so he couldn't have blamed Olivia for moving on. He would have wanted her to be happy and wouldn't interfere but would that mean he would have to sit by and watch as some other man raised his daughter? Peter couldn't handle it anymore. He was making crazy thoughts and he didn't even know if any of them were true. He had to talk to Olivia. He was just going to get in the car and drive over there and make her talk to him. He got up off his bed and grabbed his shoes and went to walk downstairs and was stopped in his tracks. Olivia Dunham was standing in his doorway holding a box.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," he said back.

"Can I…come in?" She asked.

"Sure please come in!" Peter said frantically smoothing the covers on the bed and making room for her to sit beside him. They sat next to each other in silence for several minutes, neither knowing how to start this conversation that they so dearly needed to have.

"Where's Kathryn?" Peter asked to break the silence.

"She's with Rachel." Olivia said. Peter's heart sunk a little. He was hoping she was just downstairs with Walter.

"Figures."

"I'm not intentionally trying to keep you from her Peter I just…I don't know I've had a lot of emotions and thoughts to work through these past few days and I needed to put what I wanted aside and do what was best for her and…"

"What do you want Olivia?" Peter asked.

"Me? I've wanted nothing more than to hold onto you with all my might and never let you go since you got back!"

"Then why haven't you don't that? Why have you shut me out?" Peter asked her.

"I cried myself to sleep over you Peter Bishop for months! I still do sometimes! You were the center of my world and then all of a sudden poof, you were gone! I had no idea what had happened to you, where you had gone, or how to get you back and not one of these genius science guys could give me an answer! When he wasn't working on what had happened to you Walter was in a sort of infantile state and I had to care for him, and then to make matters more complicated about a month after you disappeared I found out I was pregnant. I found out that I was going to have a baby with the man I loved and he wasn't here to share that with me. I went through that whole pregnancy on my own Peter wishing you were here with me and hurting that you were missing this. Then, when Kathryn was born it was like I found a new reason for living. The universe had taken you from me but it was like they let me keep a little piece of you. I have never loved anyone as much as I love our daughter Peter! Which is why I can't think of what I want to do right now, I have to think of her! We don't know what happened to you let alone if it could or will happen again! I lost you once, I know what that feels like. If I let you in her life and it happened again I couldn't bear the thought of the pain she would be in from losing you." Olivia was in tears now. She fell into him like she used to when she was upset and they remained like that for a while. Peter just held her and wanted nothing more than to tell her that everything was going to be ok but he couldn't promise that. Not without knowing what had happened to him in the first place.

"Look Olivia, I don't know what happened to me. I wish I did and that I could tell you with certainty that you had nothing to worry about and I wasn't going to leave you again but I can't. But I swear to you, that I am going to do everything within my power to figure this all out and make sure that it never happens again. But I can swear to you, that nothing in my power will ever cause me to leave you ever. I am going to be here for you from this moment on until the day I die. I love you more than I can even express and it hurts me to know that I was the cause of you feeling so much pain. And, I want to you to know that the same goes for our daughter. I haven't been able to stop thinking about her since I laid eyes on her and I haven't been able to figure it out but I think I understand. I love her. I love her so much that my heart hearts and I don't even know her and I want to know her so desperately. I understand your reasoning, I really truly do. Just don't cut me out of your life and don't cut me out of her please! I will do anything. I will…"Olivia placed her finger to Peter's lips.

"Peter, it was never my intention to cut you out of my life and certainly not your child's. I would never do that. I never have. I have spoken of you to her every day since she was born. Walter and I have told her stories about you and what you were like and the things you liked to do. I've told her that even though you weren't here with her you loved her more than anything. You are far from cut out of her life. I just needed some time to process everything and work through it in my head and figure out what I was going to do should things go…badly again. Please don't be angry or upset with me." Olivia said.

"Angry or upset with you? Olivia I thought you were angry or upset with me! I thought I had lost you! I thought…" Olivia crashed her lips to Peter's and wrapped her arms around him.

"You'll never lose me Peter. I'm yours. Now and forever." With that they found themselves in a loving embrace, their tongues and bodies in a battle with each other. Their clothes discarded on the floor. Their bodies becoming one with one another for the first time in too long, and laying in each other's embrace as if nothing had ever happened.

Olivia lay wrapped up in Peter's arms later with her arm wrapped around him holding her to him. His arm was wrapped around her and he was kissing the top of her head whispering sweet _I love you's_ in her ear. There was nothing else to say on the matter. They belonged to each other. Always had and always will. Nothing was going to keep them apart if they had anything to say about it.

"You want to meet her?" Olivia asked suddenly.

"Hmm?" Peter asked through a kiss.

"Your daughter. Do you want to meet your daughter? I mean really meet her." Olivia asked.

"More than anything? Can we go see her now?" Peter asked. Olivia thought about that for a minute.

"If you can bear with me for one more night I would really like to talk to her tonight about what's going on and then perhaps we could come by first thing in the morning?" Olivia asked. Peter let out a sigh.

"I hate waiting but I understand. We don't want to just spring this on her." Peter said.

"Yea she wants to know why mommy's been acting weird." Olivia laughed. Peter laughed to himself as well.

"Mommy. It's a hard idea to grasp. I mean I always knew that you were going to be the mother of my children it's still a hard idea to wrap myself around." Peter said.

"I know, sometimes when I look at her I can't quite wrap myself around it either. You don't necessarily have to completely wait until tomorrow." Olivia got up leaving a puzzled Peter in bed. She pulled his t-shirt over her head and walked over to the box she had brought with her and placed it on the bed before crawling next to Peter. She opened it and heard Peter inhale. The box was full of photographs and mementos of Kathryn's life. He reached in and pulled out the photographs that were on top and from what Peter could tell they were the most recent.

"She's so beautiful." Peter said.

"She is. She's my perfect little angel." Olivia said resting her head on Peter's arm.

"I have never laid eyes on anything as perfect as the Dunham girls." Peter said wrapping his arm around Olivia who laughed.

"Thank you but she's not a Dunham." Peter looked at her confused.

"Her last name is Bishop. Kathryn Elizabeth, after your mother, Bishop." Peter didn't know what to say.

"Thank you."

Peter and Olivia spent the next two hours going through pictures from the past two and a half years. They started at the beginning, with Olivia's ultrasound pictures to the hospital when she had been born, first smiles, first steps, first birthday, first everything. Peter learned his daughter's first word had been mama, she loved spaghetti, dogs, and the color purple. By the end of the session there had been a lot of laughs and a lot of tears and Peter felt like he hadn't missed anything at all.

"Well, I have to go pick up the little stinker from Rachel and get her fed, bathed, and in bed and ready for tomorrow. We'll be here first thing in the morning."

"I can't wait!" Peter kissed Olivia on the lips before she left. He went back upstairs to get ready for bed later and looked at a few pictures he had selected to keep with him of his daughter that had been his favorites. There was nothing special about them and yet everything was special about them. He shut off the light, whispered silent good nights to his girls, and went to sleep anticipating the day to come.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this universe!

"Hello," Olivia opened the door to her sister Rachel's apartment that evening after talking with Peter.

"Hey Liv! Kathryn, momma's here to pick you up! Ella help her get her stuff together. How did it go?" Rachel asked her sister hugging her with one hand while straightening up with other. As far as Rachel was concerned Peter's absence had simply been a routine missing person's case not a fringe event.

"It went great! We talked it out, figured out where each of us stands and what we want. I'm taking Kathryn to meet him tomorrow," Olivia said as Kathryn came bounding into the room.

"Are you going to tell her he's her father?" Rachel asked.

"That's the plan. I don't know how this is going to go but I'm hoping for the best." Olivia said crossing her fingers.

"Mommy!" Kathryn said running into her mother's outstretched arms.

"Hello my little stinker how are you? Mommy missed you," Olivia said kissing her daughter on the forehead and hugging her close.

"I good Mommy. I go to the zoo!" Kathryn said holding up a new stuffed elephant.

"You went to the zoo! Oh boy! You will have to tell me all about it on the way home. Can you go find your socks and shoes for me?"

"They are right here Aunt Liv," Ella said coming out of the room carrying her cousin's shoes.

"Thank you Sweetheart. How are you? How's school?" Olivia said wrapping her free arm that wasn't holding Kathryn around her niece and kissing the top of her head.

"Good." Olivia sat Kathryn on her leg and put her socks and shoes on making small talk with her sister and niece.

"Well Kathryn and I gotta head out. Give Aunt Rachel and Ella kisses and hugs. We'll see you guys soon!" Olivia said to her family members and Kathryn kissed her aunt and cousin then Olivia picked her up and headed out the door.

"Good luck with tomorrow! I hope it all works out good." Rachel said hugging her sister goodbye.

"You and me both!" Olivia said before taking Kathryn downstairs and buckling her into her seat belt and hearing about the trip to the zoo.

"I saw elphants and monkeys and bears and I pet a cow." Kathryn said.

"You saw all that? Wow! I'm glad you had such a good time Sweetheart. Are you hungry?"

"Mmhmm"

" Do you want some… grilled cheese for dinner?"

"YEA!" Kathryn exclaimed at the idea and Olivia chuckled at her daughter. Dinner was the usual routine affair. Olivia wanted to bring up the subject of tomorrow but wasn't quite sure how.

"Alright missy!" Olivia said taking Kathryn out of her high chair and took her into her bedroom and took her clothes off It's bath time!"

"AHHH! NO!" Kathryn said running down the hall of Olivia's apartment butt naked. "YES! If you don't have a bath we might just have to take you back to the zoo so you can sleep with the animals because you'll smell like one." Olivia said scooping Kathryn up and carrying her to the bathroom. It was during the bath that Olivia decided to start talking to Kathryn about the next day.

"Alright Sweetie tilt your head back for me." Olivia said as she rinsed Kathryn's hair. "Hey would you like to do something special tomorrow?" She asked her.

"Yea Mommy. What we do?" Kathryn asked wiping water out of her eyes.

"Well…how would you like…to meet your daddy?"

"Meet my daddy?" Kathryn asked playing with her bath toys.

"Yea, I know he would love to meet you."

"Daddy not gone no more?" Kathryn asked.

"No, Daddy's home now."

"Ok Mommy, I meet daddy." Kathryn said. Olivia got Kathryn out of the bath and in her pajamas and in bed and noticed she was had a worried look on her little face.

"What's wrong my baby?"

"What Daddy no like me?" Olivia was completely taken aback by her daughter's concern.

"Oh baby girl, your Daddy is going absolutely adore you and what has Mommy always told you about Daddy?" Olivia asked smoothing her daughter's still wet hair.

"Daddy loves Kathryn."

"Yes Daddy loves Kathryn very very much and he is very excited to meet you!" Olivia said kissing her daughter's forehead. "Now we gotta get some sleep because we have a big day tomorrow! I love you goodnight!"

"Love you too Mommy, nigh night"

Peter had been pacing back and forth in the foyer of the house he shared with Walter for almost forty five minutes. He had gotten up super early and went out to buy something for Kathryn. He had ended up with a stuffed purple elephant. He remembered Olivia saying those were two things that she liked. He was trying to figure out how to approach her. He didn't want to be too forward and startle her but at the same time he just wanted to hug her close to him.

"Oh would you settle down son, kids are like horses they can smell when you're nervous."

"Walter, you aren't helping. I just want this to be perfect. I haven't been able to be there for her whole life and I know there is no way I can make up for that but I just feel like I need try and make up for two years of her life that I wasn't here for."

"You are going to make an excellent father, son." Walter said placing his hand on his shoulder. A few moments later there was a knock at the door. Peter took a deep breath and opened it up. There stood Olivia, the love of his life, looking radiant and beautiful as ever and in her arms, was their daughter.

"Hi," Peter said to them.

"Hi, Peter! Can you say hi Kathryn?" Olivia asked and Kathryn buried her face in Olivia shoulder. "Are you going to be shy?" Peter smiled and stepped aside to let them in.

"Is that my granddaughter I hear?" Walter called from the kitchen. Kathryn's face lit up at the sound of her grandfather's voice.

"Who's that?" Olivia asked her daughter.

"Gampa!" Kathryn whispered.

"Go find him!" Olivia said putting Kathryn down who ran into the kitchen to find her grandfather.

"Hey," Olivia kissed Peter on the lips as soon as Kathryn had left.

"Hey," Peter kissed her back.

"So I want thinking that we could take her to the playground and then out to lunch if that works for you?" Olivia said.

"As long as I get to spend the day with you guys I don't care what we do." At that moment Kathryn came back into the room holding a sippy cup.

"Walter whatever that is there are no radioactive chemicals in it are there?"

"It's a strawberry banana smoothie and no there is nothing radioactive in it!" Walter said. "Did he give her something before?"

"Not yet he hasn't but I feel the need to double check given his past experiences with children." Olivia said looking down. Peter couldn't help but feeling a surge of anger for his father when Olivia talked about what was done to her and other children all those years ago.

"Oh well the past is the past and what is important is right now. So…Kathryn come here baby." Olivia said as Kathryn walked over and nestled into her mother. "Kathryn, this, this is my friend Peter. Do you remember him from the other day?" Kathryn nodded her head yes. "Well, he is your daddy."

"Hello Kathryn. It's nice to meet you." Peter said outstretching his hand to her. He was shocked when she actually took it. He couldn't believe how small her hand felt in his or how good it felt.

"Hi," Kathryn said.

"Oh I have something for you!" Peter said as he walked into the other room and brought out the stuffed elephant. "I heard that purple was your favorite color and that you liked elephants so I saw this and thought of you." Kathryn's face lit up and took the present from her father and held it close.

"What do you say?"

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome Sweetheart."

"Hey would you like to take Peter to your favorite playground and show him how you can go down the slide all by yourself?

"Yea!" Kathryn said. Forty-five minutes later Peter had watched his daughter go down countless slides, pushed her on the swing and rode the merry-go-round with her and laughed along with Olivia as they watched their child discover new things about the world.

"This is amazing. I finally feel complete." Olivia said resting her head on Peter's shoulder as Kathryn climbed up the ladder to go down the slide again.

"I'm glad. I'm also very sad that you ever had to feel incomplete."

"Shhh," Olivia said placing her finger on his lips. "It's like I said earlier the past is the past and we can't change it so let's just enjoy the present."

"Ok," Peter said kissing her lips. "Do you think she likes me?" He asked as Kathryn was already on her way up the ladder again for another trip down.

"Yea, I can tell she does. She was really nervous this morning about meeting you. She was worried you wouldn't like her." Olivia said.

"WHAT? How can she even think such a thing?" Olivia shrugged.

"I'm not sure but I can tell that she likes you. Not just anyone gets invited to go on the merry-go-round."

"Oh well no I really feel honored." Peter and Olivia started laughing until they heard a thump and then a cry. They were over to their daughter's side faster than a blink. She had slipped off the ladder and fallen down and scraped her knee.

"Mommy!" She cried snuggling into her mother.

"Oh my baby, what happened? Did you slip? Let me see." Olivia held her daughter's leg out and saw that there was a noticeable scrap on it. "Oh no! It's going to be ok. Mommy's gonna make it all better. You stay here with Peter and I'll go to the bathroom and get a wet paper towel and a bandaid from the car." Olivia said rocking her daughter in a soothing motion and kissing the top of her head. She placed Kathryn down on Peter's lap and headed toward the bathroom.

"I'm sorry." Kathryn said through sobs.

"You don't have to be sorry it was an accident. People get boo boos all the time. Mommy will clean it up and you will be fine in no time." Peter said. Kathryn then curled her head into him and grabbed his hand. Peter wrapped his arm around his daughter and felt a sense of pride to be able to comfort her like this when she was distressed.

"Why did you go away?" Kathryn asked suddenly.

"What?" Peter asked confused

"Why you gone? You not want be with us?" Kathryn asked.

"Oh! No Sweetie that wasn't it at all! I have wanted to be with you more than anything. Something went wrong with my work and it kept him away. I found a way back to you as soon as I could and I'm here now and I promise to never leave you ever again. I'm so sorry baby. I never meant to leave you!" Peter said getting upset. He hugged his daughter closer to him. Peter then felt a small hand on his cheek. He opened his eyes and Kathryn leaned up and kissed his cheek where her hand had been.

"It's ok Daddy, you're here now." With these few words Peter felt his entire heart melt and found a new reason for living. Olivia got back then with a wet paper towel and a band aid.

"Ok kiddo, let's make this boo boo all better huh?" Olivia cleaned it up and placed the bandage on it followed by a kiss then the three of them enjoyed lunch at a family restaurant and then on the way back to Peter's house Kathryn fell asleep.

"I better get her home. I had fun today." Olivia said to Peter.

"Me too! Same time tomorrow?" Peter asked her.

"You bet!" Olivia kissed Peter goodbye and before he went inside he got in the back and kissed his daughter, who had fallen asleep clutching her baby elephant to her.

"Goodbye sweetheart, I'll see you tomorrow." Peter closed the door and watched as his girls drove off. He had had the best day of his life and couldn't wait for this to become what he did every day. He went into the house dreaming of his future with his family.


End file.
